GUATEMALA

Guatemala

Guatemala

Introduction

Guatemala has among the world's worst health statistics in terms of chronic malnutrition and substandard child growth attainment. Recent studies report that 44 percent of Guatemalan children are chronically malnourished (Marini and Gragnolati, 2003). The numbers on chronic malnutrition reach even higher, to 58 - 67 percent, among children of indigenous families in Guatemala. The prevalence of juvenile growth stunting (low height-for-age, a parameter used internationally as an indicator of chronic malnutrition) is 50 percent in rural areas, one of the worst values in the Northern Hemisphere (UNICEF, 2005). Although the national incidence of stunted children in Guatemala has declined from 59 percent in 1987 to 44 percent in 2000, the rate of decline of stunting has been the slowest in the Latin America and Caribbean region

Monitoring system on disease and hygiene in Guatemala, What data should be gathered to measure disease and hygiene in Guatemala?

Monitoring LLC has released the second generation of the Monitoring hand hygiene monitoring system. The innovative system enables hospitals to more effectively combat Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs) by dramatically increasing hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers.

HAIs waste over $20-30 billion each year, with as many as one in ten hospital patients picking up a secondary infection while spending time in a hospital. Infections are particularly dangerous for patients recovering from surgery, with as many as 99,000 deaths per year in the United States alone attributed to HAIs.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), hand hygiene is the single most effective way to combat hospital-acquired infections. As a result, 34 states have implemented standards which require hospitals to improve on hand hygiene.

The second-generation Monitoring system incorporates innovative badge technology and related sensors to effectively monitor hand hygiene compliance in hospitals. The system verifies the use of hand sanitizer in every patient's room, and records compliance data in a secure database.

"Our second-generation system solves the accuracy problems that are inherent in RF-based sensors," explains Brian Sheahan, Chief Executive Officer for Monitoring LLC. "An RF-based system does not have the accuracy and sensitivity which our system offers. We know with 100% accuracy when a healthcare worker enters and exits a location. Our system is simple, cost-effective and saves lives.

"In addition, the Monitoring system uses an alcohol sensor on the ID badge of the healthcare worker, so that a nurse or doctor can simply enter a patient's room, then use hand sanitizer while approaching the patient's bed and ...